2013 Ladies Tour of Qatar - Stage 4 Kirsten Wild wins Tour of Qatar in style by sprinting to third consecutive stage win. Chloe Hosking and Ellen van Dijk second and third overall. Kirsten Wild (Argos-Shimano) has won the 2013 Ladies Tour of Qatar in style by winning the final stage in Doha, her third consecutive stage win. With her win Wild also secured the overall win, her third overall win following her triumphs in 2009 and 2010. In the sprint Wild won ahead of Lucinda Brand (Rabobank), Marta Tagliaferro (MCipollini), Giorgia Bronzini (Wiggle Honda) and Simona Frapporti (BePink).

In the first 40 km of the stage Argos-Shimano kept the peloton together until the first sprint in Al Wakra. Wild won the sprint ahead of Hosking to add another second to her lead. After the sprint a 10-rider break got away including Shelley Olds (Team TIBCO-To The Top), Elisa Longo Borghini (Hitec Products), Jasmin Glaesser (Team TIBCO-To The Top), Jessie MacLean (Orica-AIS), Carmen Small (Specialized-Lululemon), Loren Rowney (Specialized-Lululemon), Tatiana Guderzo (MCipollini), Lucinda Brand (Rabobank), Silvia Valsecchi (BePink) and Audrey Cordon (France).

After the second bonus sprint a four laps finishing circuit of 6 km followed and Argos-Shimano joined forces with the Wiggle Honda Team of Giorgia Bronzini to close the 1.35 gap on the break. Lap by lap the bunch led by amongst others Anna Bianca Schnitzmeier, Emily Collins, Lauren Kitchen, Beatrice Bartelloni, Elke Gebhardt, Janneke Busser and Charlotte Becker was closing in and within two laps to go the break was caught. In the final lap Orica-AIS and Specialized-Lululemon took control of the stage but they couldn't prevent Wild winning her third stage win this week.

In the final ranking Wild won with a 14 seconds lead over Chloe Hosking with Ellen van Dijk rounding off the podium.

“We had planned to take responsibility today, and the bunch stayed together until the first intermediate sprint, which I won,” said Wild. “Then there was a group of nine riders in a break, and the other teams worked to close the gap to this group. When we started the final laps – five laps of 6 km – we took control and the team led me to the finish. We saved Marlen Johrend for the finale, and she brought me into perfect position for the sprint."

“It was great to be part of this team, and we have great team spirit. Although there are many new riders in the team, we are already comfortable with each other due to everyone’s professional approach. Now I am heading back to the track for the world championships in Minsk, and then I’ll be joining the team again for the classics campaign.”

“Before the Tour of Qatar started it was our goal to win at least one stage, but we took it day by day and the GC came closer, and in the end we’re going home with the leader’s jersey, the sprint jersey and three stage wins,” said sports director Marc Reef. “It was a very strong team performance, and of course with Kirsten we had one of the strongest sprinters in the peloton with us, and we took every chance we got.”

Team manager Iwan Spekenbrink said, “This is absolutely amazing. We couldn’t wish for a better start to the season. I saw some great teamwork, and all the work that we did with the team this winter with our dedicated staff has already paid off. We can be very proud of this result, and it bodes well for the rest of the season.”